


Repetition Demands

by saiditallbefore



Category: H2O: Just Add Water
Genre: F/F, Magic, Polyamory, Power of Love, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 10:09:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13339029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiditallbefore/pseuds/saiditallbefore
Summary: Rikki gets caught in a time loop.And then things get weird.





	Repetition Demands

**Author's Note:**

  * For [agirlnamedtruth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/agirlnamedtruth/gifts).



1.

Rikki woke up to a text from Emma.

_**Full moon tonight! Party at mine?** _

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and texted back. _**C u then.**_

Emma had been especially eager to spend time together since she’d returned from her trip. Not that Rikki could blame her— they’d kept in touch with email, but it just wasn't the same. And Emma had had to keep the mermaid secret all by herself, without anyone to cover for her.

Rikki took the quickest bath she could, with the whole mermaid tail thing. At least her powers let her dry herself off quickly, so she didn’t have to sit around forever with a tail and risk her dad catching her.

Rikki got dressed, put her hair up in a ponytail, and grabbed breakfast. After slipping on her necklace— she’d threaded her crystal and her locket onto one chain— Rikki headed outside and, with a glance around to make sure no one was watching, dived into the canal behind her house.

Rikki flicked her tail, and sped through the cool, clear water and into the open ocean. Curious fish darted up to her, and away. She ignored them— she had a destination today.

Finally, she arrived in the moon pool. Rikki still seethed whenever she looked at it— the magic was as good as gone now. Or even if it wasn’t, it still wasn’t the same. Outsiders had come in and ruined it. And all for money, not even for the magic or for their secret. 

Rikki heaved herself out of the pool and dried off. Then she got to work cleaning the cave of the debris left behind from the mining incident. Maybe it would never be back the way it was before, but perhaps she could fix it— at least a little.

She’d only been at it for a few minutes when Cleo swam up and into the pool. 

Cleo smiled at Rikki cleaning the cave. “That’s just what I was planning to do.”

“Wanna give me a hand?” Rikki asked.

Cleo nodded, and floated herself out of the pool in a giant water bubble. She landed on the ground and then sent the water back into the pool, drying herself instantly.

Rikki, impressed, raised her eyebrows. “You’ve gotten a lot better at that,” she said.

“Practice,” Cleo said. She stooped down and started picking up the rocks and things that had been scattered on the ground. “Are you going to Emma’s later?”

“Yeah, of course.” Rikki started stacking some of the man-made debris in a corner. They’d have to come back with a boat and take it back to the mainland.

“You don’t think she’s being—” Cleo glanced around, like someone might be listening. Rikki couldn’t imagine anyone could come in without them seeing, but stranger things had happened. “You don’t think she’s being a bit controlling, do you?”

Rikki laughed. “It’s Emma. Of course she’s being controlling.”

“I think she’s gotten worse,” Cleo said. “She always wants to check in, she always wants to spend full moons together, she always wants to tell us not to give away the secret. We’ve been mermaids as long as she has!”

Rikki felt strangely defensive. “She’s had a hard year.”

Cleo gave her an incredulous look. “We stopped a comet from destroying the earth!”

Right. Sometimes Rikki still had a hard time believing that had happened. Still, she shrugged. “It’s not so bad. At least we’re all together again.”

“I could do with a bit less togetherness,” Cleo said. “She’s smothering me! And if I’m feeling smothered, I would have thought she’d be driving you insane!”

Rikki hadn’t really thought about it all that much. But— “It’s been a long year. I missed her.” She looked around the cave. “And I think we’ve gotten into enough trouble this year. It’s probably safer if we lie low for a few full moons.”

“You can do what you want,” Cleo said. “But I talked with Bella, and we’re watching movies at my place tonight.” She turned on her heel and dived into the moon pool.

Rikki, alone now on Mako Island, just watched her go.

* * *

The sign on the cafe still said “Rikki’s”. It gave her a helpless, angry feeling whenever she saw it: she didn’t miss Zane, exactly, but the cafe had been such a good idea. She’d been _good_ at it, but it wasn’t hers anymore, and watching him run it into the ground— with her name on it— killed her. 

So these days, Rikki only went to the cafe for Bella’s shows. She pointedly ignored Sophie, who was working the counter, and grabbed a table right in front of the stage, where the band was warming up.

Bella, spotting Rikki, grinned and waved, then turned back to her conversation with her bandmates.

Rikki briefly considered getting up to get a smoothie, but Sophie was still behind the counter, and Rikki wasn’t in the mood to deal with her. Not that she was ever in the mood to deal with Sophie— honestly, if Zane wouldn’t fire her for running an illegal mining scheme in a national park, what else would he let her get away with?

Emma walked in then. She almost walked right past Rikki’s table on her way to the counter, but Rikki grabbed her arm.

“Can you get me a pineapple powerblaster?” she asked. “I don’t want to deal with…” Rikki waved in the direction of the counter as she trailed off.

“Just give me one minute,” Emma said with a confident nod.

She returned with the smoothies just as Cleo slipped into the cafe and grabbed the third seat at their table. Neither Emma nor Cleo looked at each other, and Rikki noticed with a start that Cleo was wearing her crystal necklace— not her locket.

The band began to play, and Rikki instinctively touched her own necklace, with its crystal and locket hanging side-by-side.

Bella sounded fantastic, of course. Rikki knew all the band’s songs by heart by now, but it didn’t matter. Bella was always full of energy, and she outshone everyone else on the stage.

The band took a break after their first set, and Bella joined Rikki and the others. She cracked open a bottle of water and drank half of it in one gulp.

“You sound great up there,” Emma said.

“Thanks,” Bella said. She hesitated, like she was considering adding something else. But instead, she just glanced over to Cleo. “I thought Nate was a little off on the bridge on that last song, but he won’t listen to me.”

Cleo rolled her eyes. “He never does.”

“I really don’t know why you put up with him.” Rikki punctuated her statement by loudly slurping her smoothie through her straw.

Bella shrugged. “He might be a jerk, but he’s a good keyboardist. And he _did_ start the band.” She glanced up at the stage, where the guys had all regathered. “Time for the next set!”

These songs were newer, and Rikki hadn’t heard all of them. Bella was still as good as ever, but something about the music sounded...off. Like it was racing ahead of the lyrics or lagging behind.

She shared a worried look with Emma. Bella had been complaining about problems with the band lately, but it was never this bad. And then, several people booed, and one of them threw a half-empty water bottle at the stage.

Rikki watched in horror as Bella squealed and tried to jump away from the water droplets, and then ran off the stage.

Rikki jumped up and looked for the culprit, but she didn’t see anyone obvious. Just a gaggle of obnoxious surfer types that looked like they’d be friends with Nate.

Someone grabbed her arm and spun her around— Zane. “What the hell is going on?” he demanded.

“Why are you asking me? Maybe you should try getting your customers under control before something _happens_!” She gave him a knowing look.

“Look,” Zane said in a low voice. “I don’t have time to deal with all of your… things… right now. This cafe is about a week away from closing.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t run it into the ground to begin with—” Rikki said.

Zane just scowled and walked away.

Emma and Cleo had both left the cafe in search of Bella while Rikki was talking to Zane. She found them standing on the shore, looking at a shape in the water: Bella. As Rikki approached, the shape sped away.

The three girls stood in silence, watching the sunset, until Rikki finally spoke.

“Well, that was…”

“A disaster,” Cleo finished. “Poor Bella.”

“That was way too close,” Emma said. She sighed, and checked her watch. “Full moon is in an hour. We should get to my house.”

“Bella and I are going to my house, remember?” Cleo said quietly.

Emma bit her lip, and the air suddenly felt cool. Rikki briefly wondered if running away would be cowardly.

“You’re coming, right, Rikki?” Emma asked. 

Rikki shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. “Yeah, sounds like a plan.”

* * *

Rikki liked to think they were all pretty good at keeping away from the full moon by now, but Emma’s preparations went above and beyond. After all, she’d managed to keep from being under its spell in hotel rooms and planes and everywhere else she’d been staying over the last year. And she’d kept it a secret the entire time.

So Rikki and Emma sealed themselves up in Emma’s room, with an extra television and DVDs and lots of snacks. Emma hung a blackout curtain over her window and taped it securely to the wall and Rikki stuffed a blanket under the door— just in case any moonlight managed to make its way through.

They’d watched two romantic comedies— Rikki had made fun of them all the way through, though Emma didn’t join her until the second one. It wasn’t as much fun as it would’ve been if Cleo and Bella had joined them, but it was nice. And then, it happened.

The curtain rod must not have been hung up securely, or maybe they’d pulled too hard on it when taping the curtain to the wall. Either way, the curtain fell down. Such a little thing, and on any other day, it wouldn’t mean anything except a chance for Emma to fuss over something not being perfect. 

But on the full moon, it spelled disaster.

Rikki stared at the moon, wide-eyed. Its song rang in her head, and she followed it: outside, into the water, toward Mako Island. 

She sensed Emma beside her, but she didn’t turn to look. She needed to get to Mako. 

The moon was calling her.

* * *

2.

Rikki’s phone dinged. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was in her dad’s trailer, not Emma’s bedroom. She reached for her phone to see who had texted her.

It was from Emma. _**Full moon tonight! Party at mine?**_

What? The full moon had been yesterday. They’d fallen under its magic and ended up… somewhere.

She shouldn’t be in her dad’s trailer, wearing the same pajamas she’d been wearing yesterday.

Getting the same text message she’d gotten yesterday.

Something here was hinky.

Rikki took a quick bath and got dressed. According to her cellphone— and to Emma— it was the day of the full moon. Again.

She slipped on her necklace. Time to figure out what the heck was going on.

None of the other girls lived particularly close, but Bella lived the closest. Rikki walked to her house, deep in thought. Had this affected all of them? What was this, anyway? She guessed it had something to do with the full moon— most of the strange things in their lives did, after all. 

Bella answered the door, looking slightly confused. “Hey, Rikki. What’s up?”

“Do you know what happened last night?” Rikki asked. Bella hadn’t been with her, but maybe she knew something.

Bella’s brow furrowed. “Last night? I was at band practice. We’re trying out a couple new songs at the gig this evening.”

Rikki’s heart sank. “You don’t remember?”

Bella tilted her head. “Remember what?”

Rikki shook her head and stepped away. “Never mind.”

Bella touched Rikki’s arm. “Is something going on? I can help you.”

Rikki looked into Bella’s blue eyes and was tempted, just for a moment. But she was pretty sure she would sound completely insane. “I think I need to figure this out on my own,” Rikki said.

She turned and walked away from Bella, fighting the urge to look back.

Cleo’s place was next. Kim answered the door, since Cleo was still upstairs getting dressed. 

“Rikki?” Cleo asked, when she opened her bedroom door.

“What do you remember about last night?” Rikki asked.

“Last night?” Cleo looked confused, but Rikki didn’t elaborate. “I got home from the marine park, and I watched a movie with Dad and Sam and Kim.” She shrugged. “Nothing exciting, why?”

Rikki shook her head. “It’s complicated. I— look, I need to go do something.” She dashed down the stairs and out of the house.

Maybe Emma would know something. 

Emma was home, helping her mom unpack some of their things from storage. Like she had with the others, Rikki asked if Emma knew what had happened last night. Emma had been under the full moon spell with her; surely she knew something. _Someone_ had to know. 

“I was with you, remember?” Emma said, shooting Rikki a concerned look. For just a moment, Rikki felt hopeful. Then Emma added, “Your dad made dinner.” And now that she said that, Rikki did remember, although she remembered that being two days ago now. She and Emma had chatted for hours about everything that had happened over the past year, and then they’d eaten burgers outside with her dad. “Rikki, are you okay?”

“Fine,” Rikki said. “Just— I’m fine.” She tore herself away from Emma. She ran straight to the beach and into the water, losing herself in the waves.

She’d lived out a whole day, and now she was the only one who remembered it.

Rikki wasn’t good at figuring out these things on her own. She wasn’t good at research or puzzles or thinking things through. Her solution to most problems, mermaid related or not, was to either hit them or use her powers on them.

But neither one of those seemed like a good option right now. She sped through the water, causing schools of fish to scatter, as she thought.

This was probably caused by the full moon. So maybe if she avoided the full moon tonight, everything would be fine.

She slipped out of the water in plenty of time for Bella’s show. Once again, she’d beaten Cleo and Emma to the performance, but this time she grabbed a seat toward the back. Maybe she could keep an eye out for any hecklers and stop them from ruining the performance for Bella.

Emma and Cleo entered momentarily, and Emma got Rikki her pineapple powerblast smoothie. Emma and Cleo sat on either side of Rikki, not looking directly at each other, and Rikki suddenly remembered that Cleo had been irritated with Emma.

Still, she was mostly paying attention to Bella. Like before, her first set went perfectly and she came to their table in between sets. As Bella and the rest of the band began the second set, Rikki watched the rest of the audience carefully. Like before, the music seemed off, but Rikki was ready. When one of the guys moved to throw his water bottle at Bella, Rikki curled her hand into a fist, boiling the water away.

Bella deftly dodged the empty water bottle. 

Rikki sighed in relief. At least one thing had gone right today.

And then one of the other guys threw a to-go cup at the stage, splattering smoothie all over Bella. She yelped and ran out of the cafe.

Rikki sighed, and ran her hands through her hair.

“Rikki—” Zane called.

She looked up. “I don’t have time for this,” she said, standing and following Bella out of the cafe.

Outside, Cleo and Emma were standing by the water, as the sun set and Bella swam away.

“Full moon is in an hour,” Emma said. “We should get to my house.”

“Bella and I are going to my house, remember?” Cleo said quietly.

It felt like watching a rerun, only she was living it.

“You’re coming, right, Rikki?” Emma asked. 

Rikki sighed. “Yeah, sure.”

* * *

Rikki double-checked that the curtain rod was secure. And then she taped the curtain at the top, just to be sure.

Better safe than sorry, after all.

Three movies in, and she started to relax. Maybe she’d make it through tonight. Maybe the full moon wouldn’t get to her.

And then Elliot threw the bedroom door open and she caught sight of the moon’s reflection in Emma’s mirror.

* * *

3.

Rikki woke up to a text from Emma.

_**Full moon tonight! Party at mine?** _

She rolled over and went back to sleep. 

* * *

5.

They all went over to Cleo’s house for the full moon, instead. Emma was a bit put out, but Rikki would totally make it up to her later. 

At least this time the movies were different. Rikki was going to die if she had to sit through those same romcoms one more time. Instead, they watched a kids’ movie Bella had dug up about mermaids, which was pretty good for a laugh. 

And it was all for nothing, as soon as the moon rose. Rikki caught a glimpse of moonlight, between the two curtains. Her last conscious thought as the moon’s song bubbled up in her head was that she _really_ should have taped the curtains together.

* * *

11.

Bella sat with Rikki and the others on a break between sets. 

“You sound great up there,” Emma said.

“Thanks,” Bella said. “I thought Nate was a little off on the bridge on that last song, but he won’t listen to me.”

“Maybe you shouldn't play those new songs, then?” Rikki suggested.

Bella looked hurt. “You don’t think we can do it?”

“No, that’s not—”

Bella stood up. “You’re my friend. You’re supposed to support me!” She turned and stomped to the stage.

“That was a bit harsh,” Emma said.

Rikki sighed, dropping her head into her hands.

* * *

19.

This all had to be because of Mako Island. Rikki couldn’t believe it had taken her so long to think of it— their powers had always been centered around the moon pool. That was where they ended up when things went wrong on a full moon. Surely the damage to the cave was why the full moon was making things… strange.

Why she was living the same full moon day over and over and over.

She just had to fix it. So first thing in the morning, she raced to Mako Island and started cleaning up the cave. She couldn’t repair the damage from the mining, but maybe her best would be good enough.

Cleo swam in and joined her some time later. They worked side-by-side in silence for a few minutes, until Cleo asked, “Are you going to Emma’s later?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” 

“You don’t think she’s being—” Cleo paused, glanced around, continued. “You don’t think she’s being a bit controlling, do you?”

Rikki sighed. She’d had this conversation at least three times already. “I think Emma is controlling and uptight and too serious. But she’s one of my best friends, and I missed her.”

Cleo sighed, and leaned against the cave wall. “I missed her, too. It wasn’t the same without her. I just—” She tugged at her ponytail, like it would give her answers. “We’ve changed, too, you know.”

“No kidding,” Rikki agreed. “Never thought you’d become a nerd.” She grinned and elbowed Cleo lightly.

Cleo laughed, her dark eyes lighting up. 

On an impulse, Rikki stepped forward and kissed her. Briefly, they melted together, and Cleo’s hands fluttered against her back.

Then Cleo pulled away from her suddenly. “Rikki—”

“Sorry, I just—” Rikki turned, dived into the moon pool and swam away.

* * *

24.

“Look,” Zane said in a low voice. “I don’t have time to deal with all of your… things… right now. This cafe is about a week away from closing.”

Rikki rolled her eyes. “Only because you’re terrible at business. You don’t know what to do with money when daddy isn’t giving it to you.”

“Like you’d do any better.” Zane crossed his arms.

“When I helped run the cafe, I _did_ do better. Regularly.”

“So why don’t you just buy me out?” Zane asked.

Rikki’s hands curled into fists. She considered punching him, but instead turned on her heel and walked out.

* * *

32.

Rikki boiled all the liquid in the cafe away. It didn’t really solve anything, but the look on Sophie and Zane’s faces sure made her feel better.

* * *

47.

“Maybe we should all go camping at Mako Island,” Rikki suggested.

“On a full moon?” Cleo asked.

“Are you insane?” Emma demanded.

“Why would we do that?” Bella said.

Rikki shrugged. “Just a hunch.”

* * *

54.

Emma’s again. Rikki had the movies she’d picked out memorized, but she almost didn’t mind. It was almost normal. Just her and Emma, leaned up against each other on Emma’s bed, watching stupid movies. 

Onscreen, the couple was having a stupid misunderstanding because they refused to just pick up a phone and talk to each other.

Rikki, about to make fun of the idiocy, glanced over at Emma, only to see Emma watching her.

The intensity of Emma’s gaze made the joke die in her throat.

“Emma,” Rikki began.

Like one, they moved toward each other. Rikki’s fingers tangled in Emma’s hair as their lips crashed together. The movie was entirely forgotten as Rikki flipped on top of Emma, pressing them together even closer. 

“I’ve been wanting to do this for ages,” Emma murmured against Rikki’s throat.

Rikki was just tugging up on Emma’s shirt when the door creaked open and she saw a sliver of white light.

“Oh, come on!” she cried.

* * *

67.

Bella deftly dodged the empty water bottle. 

Rikki watched carefully, and when the to-go cup went flying through the air, she boiled the liquid out of it, too. And then things got out of her control: there was water on the stage and Rikki was just getting ready to boil it away, but then Bella slipped on it. 

Bella glanced at her hand, eyes wide, and Rikki knew what had happened. Eight seconds.

She, Emma, and Cleo all stood and moved toward the stage, ready to get her out of there, but then another to-go cup hit its target, and Bella was drenched in smoothie.

And then Bella was a mermaid. Right there on stage, in the middle of the cafe.

The crowd murmured and whispered, but Rikki couldn’t make out any of their individual voices. All she could see was Bella, wide-eyed and vulnerable. Their secret was out.

She reached out both of her hands and evaporated all the water in the cafe instantaneously, filling the cafe with steam. 

Bella changed back to a girl, and Rikki grabbed her hand and ran. They dived into the ocean, and Cleo and Emma followed closely behind them. Without consulting each other, they went straight to the safest place they knew: Mako Island.

When they surfaced in the moon pool, Bella was shaking.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice breaking. “I ruined everything.”

Cleo hugged Bella tightly, kissing her cheek. “We’ll figure it out,” she said.

Emma and Rikki each placed a hand on Bella’s back, murmuring reassurances.

“It’ll be fine,” Rikki said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Fine?” Bella shrieked. “Everyone saw! They know I’m a mermaid now!”

“Let’s just wait here,” Rikki said. “Camp out for the night. Maybe things will be better in the morning.”

She didn’t want to say that she was sort of banking on the whole day not have happened in the morning. But still, no one else had a better plan. They climbed out of the moon pool and into the cave, where they huddled in silence.

Rikki watched the sky over the island change colors and turn darker. She crossed her fingers and closed her eyes, hoping for the first time that the next day wouldn’t come.

* * *

68.

Rikki woke up to a text from Emma.

_**Full moon tonight! Party at mine?** _

She clutched her phone to her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

73.

Rikki was a little bit tired of Bella’s band’s set, but she still loved watching Bella perform. When the first set was over, Bella stepped off the stage and toward the table where Rikki and the others sat.

“You sound great up there,” Emma said.

“You always sound great,” Rikki said, covering Bella’s hand with hers.

Bella smiled shyly at her. 

* * *

89.

Turned out that attempting to boil all the water in the moon pool didn’t do anything. Since it was attached to the ocean and all. But it was kind of satisfying.

* * *

91.

Hiding under her bed and ignoring her phone for the whole day didn’t do anything either. Although it was really kind of relaxing. Why hadn’t she tried this earlier?

* * *

96.

Attempting to destroy the moon pool cave didn’t work either. But it felt pretty good— right up until Cleo decided she’d lost her mind and went to get Bella and Emma to stage an intervention. That wasn’t quite as fun. It was kind of cute how serious they were all taking this, though. Rikki tried to explain that it would all just fix itself again in the morning, but they just kept shooting each other concerned looks when they thought she wasn’t looking.

* * *

99.

Rikki woke up to a text from Emma.

_**Full moon tonight! Party at mine?** _

She rolled over and groaned. At this rate, she was never going to figure this out. She just wasn’t very good at planning or at figuring these things out.

As she stared at her ceiling, Rikki realized: she’d been going about this all wrong. She’d gone back to being a lone wolf. Ever since becoming a mermaid, she’d had her friends to lean on. She hadn’t had to do things by herself.

That was how they’d made it through everything: together. Maybe the others didn’t remember what had happened, but she was still being silly to think she could do everything herself.

She needed her friends.

Rikki pulled out her phone and opened a new message. _**Need 2 talk 2 u. Meet @ mako asap?**_

She sent it off to Bella, Emma, and Cleo, then got dressed and swam to Mako Island.

Rikki sat cross-legged on the cave floor, looking into the moon pool. Not long after, Emma arrived.

“Rikki, what’s going on?” she asked.

Rikki shook her head. “I’ll tell you when the others get here.”

Surprisingly, Emma didn’t push, she just joined Rikki in sitting on the ground and waiting.

Bella and Cleo showed up shortly afterwards. Soon, the four of them were sitting in a circle, with the other three staring expectantly at Rikki.

“You guys are going to think I’m crazy,” Rikki began. “But I keep living this day over and over again. I think it has something to do with the full moon. Even when I don’t see the full moon, I relive it. And no matter what I do, things keep going wrong. We get into fights, or you all think I’m going crazy, or Bella gets exposed as a mermaid— seriously, Bells, we need to talk about your second set this afternoon. You guys are _super_ not prepared. And I just—” she buried her face in her hands. “I just don’t want to do this again.”

A pair of arms enveloped her, and then another. Rikki looked up, and saw that Bella and Cleo had each thrown their arms around her. Emma moved closer to her, until their knees were touching, and took Rikki’s hands in hers. 

“We’ll get this figured out, okay?” Emma said. “Maybe if we all work together, we can fix this.”

* * *

Bella managed to convince her bandmates not to play the new songs until they’d practiced some more. So at least Rikki didn’t have to worry about that. 

As Bella stepped off the stage, Rikki jumped up and hugged her, glad to see a show of Bella’s that didn’t end in disaster. And then, right there in the middle of the cafe, Rikki grabbed Bella by the shoulders and kissed her.

Ignoring the jeers and wolf-whistles around them, Rikki concentrated on the feeling of Bella’s lips, slick with lip gloss, against her own.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for ages,” Rikki said softly. As she turned back to the table where Emma and Cleo were sitting, she saw them looking at her and Bella, wide-eyed.

“Rikki—” Emma began. Rikki felt suddenly guilty, remembering a full moon night in Emma’s bedroom that she’d left out of her retellings earlier in the morning.

“Don’t we have somewhere to be?” Rikki said sharply. She walked out the door before Zane could find her and make a stupid comment. The other girls would catch up.

They went to Emma’s house. Sure, there was a possibility that the moon would get to them there, like it had so many of the times Rikki had been there before. But for the first time in ages, Rikki felt a bit hopeful.

Or she would have, if she hadn’t gone and ruined everything by kissing Bella in front of the others. Now things were weird, and no one was talking. Even when they got to Emma’s, they were awkwardly quiet as they covered the window, taping garbage bags over it for good measure, barricaded the door, and covered the mirror.

When they were finally done with all of that, though, they all stood in different parts of Emma’s room, not quite looking at each other. 

Rikki touched her necklace, with the crystal and the locket hanging from it. This wasn’t what she’d wanted at all.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to ruin everything.” She took a deep breath and forged on. “I like Bella. But I like you, Emma. And I like you, Cleo. The same way. Or— not the same, because I like you all for different reasons.” She collapsed on Emma’s bed, hugging a pillow to her chest.

“I like you, too,” Emma said. “And…” she swallowed. “I like Cleo, too. I don’t know Bella as well, but—” she looked at Bella. “You’re really nice and really pretty.”

“That’s how I feel!” Bella said, then blushed. “I mean, about you guys. I like you guys.” She sat down on the bed next to Rikki, taking her hand.

“I feel the same way!” Cleo looked at them in astonishment. “But— I mean— we can’t do that, can we? You can only date one person at a time.”

Rikki scrunched up her nose, thinking about that. “Can’t we? We’re magic mermaids hiding from the full moon! I’ve been living the same day over and over for who knows how long! We’re in this together, anyway— aren’t we?”

They all were quiet for a moment, and looked around at each other. Then finally, all at once, they moved toward each other, and hugged.

Surrounded by her three friends— girlfriends?— Rikki wanted to cry. If this didn’t work, if she woke up tomorrow to have this all erased—

She pushed the thought out of her head.

They didn’t talk about it too much more. Instead, they turned on a movie and cuddled up together. Occasionally, one of them would have the courage to turn and kiss one of the others, and while no clothes were completely removed, Rikki knew she wasn’t the only one to tentatively reach for one of the others’ breasts over their bra.

They fell asleep like that, limbs tangled together in a pile on Emma’s bed. Rikki’s last waking thought as she drifted off to sleep, her face pressed into Cleo’s hair, was that she hoped she could recreate this on her next time round.

* * *

1.

A hand reached out and ruffled Rikki’s hair. “Good morning, sunshine!” Cleo said brightly.


End file.
